Rapport mensuel à partir de 2012 (en anglais)

What a spectacular end to our busiest year yet at Taricaya! As the rains finally return with a vengeance we are celebrating the birth of a young male tapir, our highest survival rate on the turtle project ever, new species for our biodiversity data, brilliant progress with our new enclosures and, to top it all, some last minute reservations have taken our total number of volunteers received in 2012 to over 250!

Once again it is time for the latest from the jungle and there is no shortage of amazing news and excitement from Taricaya. However, with the rains holding off still the forest is very dry for this time of year and I can only hope that this is not another repercussion of global climate change and that the heavens will open soon.

As we approach the end of our busiest summer ever it is time to take a step back and look at everything we have achieved over the last few weeks. But before we review all the hard work, I must report on a great milestone for Taricaya as on 2nd August we received volunteer number 1500 on the project. Over the last decade every single volunteer has left their mark on the project and has helped in the conservation of the Amazon rainforest.

The increased interest in our conservation work had meant turning willing hands away was becoming a distinct possibility and so it was decided to increase our capacity and give everybody a chance to enjoy the unique experience Taricaya offers. Such a decision was not taken lightly but with careful planning and the acquisition of a second plot of land downriver from the centre I am pleased to report that we have increased the number of volunteers we can receive by 25%.

It is an exciting time in the jungle as we reach the end of the wet season and as the river levels finally start to recede we can take stock and really get back out into the reserve without the threat of heavy storms and torrential rain on a daily basis.

As the heavens opened here in Peru it was a nervous few weeks deep in the rainforest as the rivers swelled and threatened to burst their banks. As other parts of the country suffered flash floods and localised states of emergency we were lucky at Taricaya with the river failing to flood by a matter of inches as the rainy season hit in earnest.

With the start of a new year there comes a sense of anticipation and 2012 promises to be very exciting here in the Amazon rainforest. With volunteer participation increasing every year I am sure that we shall welcome record breaking numbers this year. That is fantastic news for the program and enables me to set challenging goals and optimistic new projects for the upcoming months.